Harry's Law (2011) s01e07 Episode Script

It had an iPod dock, satellite radio, voice-activated - navigation system, um - Plates, make, model and color.
What about the VIN number? I don't think that you guys appreciate the severity of my victimization.
This car is my eternal nucleus.
a Malibu.
With an iPod dock.
When you got hit by Malcolm, who was there for you? When you got hit by Adam, who was there for you? Who is always there for you, always? God? - Me! - Close.
And when I'm need of just a little support when I have been violated you ugh! Oh.
Can I help you? You can't help me.
You're rude.
Rude doesn't help me.
- Harry, I need you.
- Why? How we doing, everybody? Came as soon as I could.
Hey.
I know you.
You're that Tommy Jefferson.
I seen you on TV.
Man of the people.
Damien Winslow.
I'm a man of the people, too.
Ah, you.
I need you to help me get my car back, Mr.
Person.
I need to hire Damien Winslow Securities, I-N-C.
Sweet.
I have some pictures of it on my computer.
Excuse me, please? - Harry, look, little problem.
- What's that? Albinos.
- Come again? - African Albinos.
They're being deported perfect Tommy Jefferson case.
Buttons to push, strings to pull.
What's not to love? It's a home run for yours truly.
So what's the problem? They make me nauseous.
Albinos make you nauseous? To look at.
Ever seen one? Tommy.
You know it's not like me to ask.
For help.
I mean, why would I? I'm Tommy Jefferson.
But lives are at stake here.
I'm battling a difficult law, a tough U.
S.
Attorney and nausea.
It's a two-day trial, tops.
The Immigration court is in Cleveland.
We could stay over if you prefer, have a couple of drinks at the hotel.
I wouldn't ask, Harry, but you and I have a relationship.
Look, Tommy, I've made very few promises to myself in life.
One was to never go to Cleveland.
Please.
These are good people.
They need your help.
They need an attorney who can fight for them, one who can look at them.
Albinos are routinely murdered in Tanzania.
We left the country two years ago.
We were making our way to Dallas.
There is a Tanzanian community there.
We got as far as Cincinnati before when we ran out of money.
Okay.
And how is it you got arrested? - I have all this information.
- Well, I don't.
We were staying in an abandoned house.
There was a raid.
I-C-E must have been tipped.
I must say your English sounds pretty good.
That's not the Tanzanian language, is it? It's mostly Swahili, but English is also spoken.
Plus, I also went to university in Boston, so mine How you doing? He doesn't like to look at us.
Okay, look, timing is everything, and yours stinks.
In the history of America, you picked the worst possible moment to be an immigrant.
And you should also know, it's hard enough getting asylum as it is, but getting it after you've been arrested, it's I don't mean to make you cry.
Harry, Albinos can't cry.
Their tear ducts aren't fully developed.
Who told you that? What? We are fully capable of crying, Mr.
Jefferson.
Trust me.
The man is unbelievable.
Adam, I'm going to need to do some down-and-dirty research on the requirements of asylum.
Malcolm, you can help him.
Okay.
Good news, Jenna I know who's got your car.
You do? Can you get it back? Uh, well, see, knowing where it is ain't quite the same as getting it back, you know what I'm saying? No.
Well, see, from the point of view of the person or persons who took the car, it's their car now.
What?! Is he on drugs? I set up a meet, Harry.
I'm gonna need you or Adam to help.
Can't.
I'm off to Cleveland.
- Harry! - Yes, I know, it's a Malibu.
Adam, you handle it.
- I want to be present, too.
- Not a good idea.
- Why? - Cause clearly, you're too emotional.
I mean, how could you not be? The thing had an iPod dock.
Don't think that I don't know when I'm being mocked.
- I'm not.
- Yes, you are.
Look, suppose you did go.
What would happen if somebody came in here looking to buy a peep-toe-slingback, do-me-like-a-dog pump? Have you considered the tragic consequences of you not being here? For your information, our shoe business supports our law practice.
I'm bringing in money while you're out there defending drug addicts for free.
And by the way, I've totally figured you out.
- Have you now? - Yes.
You're a pretty bigot.
You were probably picked on in high school by the pretty girls who giggled as you stood by the punch bowl, waiting for some guy to ask you to dance.
You have a thing against the pretties, and I'm a pretty.
Well, I can't help my looks, okay? You got to go with what God gives you, and right now, I can't go anywhere because I don't have a car.
Okay, this just needs to be said.
The girl is mentally challenged.
Harry? The U.
S.
Attorney just brought a motion to seal the room.
We need to get to Cleveland now.
Look, I typically don't care whether a room is sealed or not, but given Mr.
Jefferson's penchant for publicity, I have serious concerns that he might try to A shot over the bow.
Is that how we begin? - Cause let me tell you, Red - Tommy.
I meant no disrespect.
You're an excellent attorney.
I certainly know this.
But you're also a notorious grandstander.
Your Honor, he can say what he wants about me.
I can take it.
I'm a big boy.
But the president of the United States, our commander-in-chief he has declared transparency to be in the national interest, in the White House, in Congress, in the courts.
So, if the United States government is seeking to ship a bunch of poor Albinos back to a place where they will face torture, then the American public certainly has a right to know about it.
Mr.
Flynn's motion is granted.
What? Why? Let it go, Tommy.
When you seal a room, you're suggesting you have something to hide.
I'd simply like to remind you of the president's mandate for transparency.
Thank you, Mr.
Jefferson.
The motion is granted.
I'll, uh, explain myself to the president should he call.
We recieved a tip that illegal immigrants were housed at the aforementioned address.
Myself and several I-C-E Agents proceeded to raid the premises, upon which we discovered the respondents, all sleeping at the time.
Our entry awakened them, at which point, they attempted to flee.
Did you identify yourselves as federal agents? Yes.
That seemed to bring them little comfort.
They all ran.
We managed to apprehend them.
Upon asking for identification, it was determined that they had entered the country illegally.
At that point, we placed them under arrest as status violators.
Is it fair to say that my clients became scared when you entered the house? I would imagine they were scared, yes.
And, honestly, sir, if armed men suddenly charged into your house in the middle of the night, wouldn't your instinct be to flee? Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but the fear they experienced during their arrest isn't really an issue before the court.
Mr.
Flynn, you were careful to introduce that my clients attempted to flee.
You did so to establish their guilty state of mind.
Counsel, if and when he makes that argument, you can then make yours.
Your Honor, one last item, because I think it serves as backdrop as to what both this proceeding and the United States of America is.
I'll keep it short.
Two words melting pot.
I'll say it again.
Melting pot.
Thank you, Mr.
Jefferson.
I'm touched, as I'm beginning to suspect, are you.
Let's continue.
Tommy, maybe I should do this one alone.
Am I off? I don't quite feel myself.
Am I off? I'm out on bail now.
They say me and this guy Dwayne stole some TVs from Best Boy.
- Did you? - No, and I can prove that.
But see, I can't prove it.
You follow? I don't follow, and when do we get to the part about my car? Jenna See, at the time the TVs were being stolen, I was somewhere else, but I can't exactly say where, you follow? No.
You were stealing something from somewhere else.
I don't admit that, but if it were true, it would be a Mercedes 500 S class.
Still not my car.
And when the cops got Dwayne, they told him to give up the guy he stole the TVs with.
For whatever reason, Dwayne gave up me, even though I was completely innocent.
Can we just fast forward to Jenna's car, please? I know where it is.
Because you stole it.
What are you looking for, Jamaal? I need a lawyer on the stolen TV thing.
A good one, not that lame public defender they hooked me up with.
Damien says you people are good.
So, basically, if I represent you on that, you'll return Jenna's car.
Represent me for free.
And you have to win.
I think that sounds totally fair.
But may I offer one little tweak to the plan? You return my car now, and I don't give your prints and your DNA to the police.
Cops already got my prints.
Oh, really? Well, do they have your digitally recorded confession? Whoa, whoa, whoa.
That ain't the way this works.
Oh, yes, it is.
Jamaal, you seem like a good kid, but you stole my Malibu, and that pisses me Jamaal off.
Comprendez parlez-vous, Jamaal? You have pissed me off.
There are witch doctors who believe that body parts from Albinos have supernatural powers.
They use them to make potions.
These potions are supposed to bring prosperity, wealth and good luck.
There are Albino hunters who find albinos and The hunters have machetes.
They hack off arms, legs and leave the person to die.
My cousins and I knew we had to leave Tanzania, or we would be killed.
The five of us made a plan to leave.
The five of you? Benjamin.
He didn't make it out.
Benjamin was? My brother.
What happened? The night we were to leave, he was captured.
Do you know what happened to him? His arms and legs were cut off.
How old was Benjamin? Thirteen.
The way my business works is on trust.
I have a trust with the neighborhood.
My word has to be good with people.
My name is now trash 'cause of that little stunt you just pulled.
You feel me, girl? - All right.
- There's certain things you don't do.
- You got that? - I think I do.
Oh.
And one of them we can now add it to the list is steal my car.
Well, you may not get your car back now.
And I don't know what will happen 'cause you just shot up all my trust in the neighborhood, That's what you just did.
May I help you? My name is Denise Raines.
Jamaal is my brother.
The car thief? What's going on? Jamaal said he was in some trouble, something about stolen televisions.
It's actually a little more serious.
Your brother stole a car.
- Mine.
- Are you sure about this? I have his confession and his DNA.
- Jenna.
- What? I'll see that your car is returned.
I'm very sorry.
You look at homeless people on the street? I'm sorry? You know? You're walking down the street, homeless person sitting at the curb.
Do you look? Make eye-contact? I don't.
They make you nauseous? No.
I don't look 'cause it depresses me.
Not simply that they're homeless, but because I can't help.
Not in the whole.
I mean, sure, I should give the guy ten bucks, but 30 yards down the street, there's another one, and another one, and another one.
I don't look 'cause futility overcomes me.
Same with your human tragedies worldwide.
You got your Somalians, your Haitians.
Today, it's the Tanzanians.
I can't keep up.
There's suffering all over the world, Harry.
And I can't make a difference, and the futility of it all Well, don't look at the macro picture, then.
Maybe you can help just one.
Or, in this case, our four clients.
That's futile, too, probably.
This is one lousy time to be an immigrant.
We're throwing out the Asians, the Indians, people who study at Harvard, Stanford, doctors, scientists We're giving them the heave-ho when it's in our national interest to keep them.
Well, the issue isn't whether we want them.
It's whether they qualify for asylum.
Come on, Harry.
Cases always come down to what a judge or jury wants.
End of the day, it's what they want, and trust me, it ain't Albinos.
I'm going to admit something to you.
Confidential.
It's not something I tell people.
I cry when I'm sad.
These cases they make me weak.
And for Tommy Jefferson, that's not something It's okay to be weak, Tommy.
Really? Really.
I'm feeling shame over something I did.
What? Well When the Albinos first came in to hire me mind you, I did not know their plight at the time I told them I was expensive.
I said "Be prepared to pay an arm and a leg.
" It's one of the reasons i can't make eye contact with them.
That, and they're funny-looking.
I saw that.
You're trying not to laugh.
I saw that.
Tommy Jefferson.
First of all let me say and I think I can speak for everybody in this courtroom, my heart goes out to you and the other respondents.
This isn't whether the United States government sympathizes.
We absolutely do.
But I do have some questions.
And I guess my first would be, "Did you come to America to seek asylum?" Yes.
Well, what took you so long to seek it, then? You've been here two years.
It seems to me that most folks who feel they qualify for legitimate asylum ask for it.
They don't wait to get arrested.
- Objection.
- Overruled.
Now, you came to America before, to study at Boston University, did you not? I did.
And after you graduated, you chose to go back to Tanzania.
I find that curious, if you really faced this type of persecution.
I thought things had progressed.
They hadn't.
Forgive me, and I don't doubt that these atrocities do occur.
But are you using this persecution as a pretext to gain entry into America? Am I using it as a pretext? Well, first, you chose to go back.
And then, you're here for two years with no apparent plan to seek asylum until you get arrested, and then, presto, suddenly you feel persecuted.
It is a little suspicious.
You actually think we're fabricating the persecution? I just wonder if you overstate it.
I don't.
Oh, my God.
Oh, my God! Oh, I missed you so much.
My brother was afraid to return it.
He thought he might be set up.
Why would he think that? Last time he came here, he was set up.
Look.
I know you people made no deal to defend my brother, but Well will you? He's a decent kid.
He's just fallen into a bad crowd.
If only some lawyer would take a chance on him.
You can't relate? Oh, so you did your homework.
I'll pay his legal fees, if that's your concern.
Look, I'll ask them.
Can't make any promises, but I'll ask.
Shifting gears a little, would you like to get dinner? I'm a cultural attaché of the Tanzanian consulate.
As such, I am fully aware of the atrocities being carried out against the Albino people.
Does the government of Tanzania condone this kind of persecution? No, we do not.
Yes, there is horrific violence directed towards these people, but our government condemns it and prosecutes those responsible.
It is our duty to protect all of the citizens of Tanzania, including Albinos, and we live up to that responsibility.
These people, the ones running around, chopping off the arms and legs of Albinos, they've all been arrested? Certainly not all.
- Most of them? - A lot.
Fantastic.
That's really swell.
How many trials have there been? I would have to check the records.
I could not give you an exact number off the top of my head.
Well, at least you still have the top of your head.
That's not something to be taken for granted in Tanzania, is it? - You think you're funny? - Not trying to be.
In fact, I take this matter very seriously.
Does your Tanzanian government? I just testified that it does.
It just seems, if you were really serious about ending the murder and dismemberment of Albinos, they'd be convicting more than a few of these vicious, sadistic monsters.
We have had some trials.
We've obtained convictions.
We have called upon the people to report these Albino hunters.
And despite all these heroic efforts, the butchery still goes on.
One reason being, the people of Tanzania aren't really so against it, are they? Gang violence continues to go on in the United States.
Should one, then, assume the American people are for it? We certainly prosecute gang violence with more vigilance.
You cannot keep all of your citizens safe.
Neither can we.
We don't need - to flee our country in order - Neither do Tanzanians.
That is precisely the point.
There are havens.
Your clients did not seek them.
They opted for the American dream.
If you would like to bestow that dream, I have no objection, but do not do so with bigotry and prejudice directed towards my country.
I know that if I could help him get his degree, and I can, then I could help him get into a Community College.
No offense.
But, uh How does somebody from your neighborhood get to be a successful real estate broker at the age of 20? I got lucky is what it was.
When I was 17, I got a job cleaning at one of those high-rise condominium palaces downtown.
Anyway, they had a lot of vacancies, and I convinced the owner, who was also the general manager, to let me try and sell a unit one day.
How'd you do that? I flirted.
I'm a good flirt.
Anyway, at the end of the month, I had sold 12.
You sold 12 units in a month? I'm a really good flirt.
I'm now the in-house broker for that building and six others.
The American dream is alive and well, Malcolm.
It's just harder to find.
I want to help my brother find it before it's too late.
So, we close tomorrow, then the judge rules.
- What do you think? - I don't know.
It's getting really contentious.
Heard you got your car back.
Yep, I did.
Wasn't stripped or Nope.
Okay, stop it.
Look when two people, especially office colleagues, have a disagreement, it can cause hurt, pain.
Finally, at some point, they air it all out, eventually make up and move on.
What I'd like to do, Jenna, is pretend we did all that nonsense, so we can be done with this crap! You see that? You so devalue me that you can't even be bothered - with having a fight.
- That isn't true.
Yes, it is.
You don't respect me.
You hurt me.
You can't be bothered with trying to I get it, Harry.
I get it.
You know what, Jenna? I am bothered and a little hurt myself.
That little "Punch bowl" Remark.
I may not have been picked on by the pretties, but I did spend a lot of time at high school dances waiting for some boy to That hurt, Jenna.
I'm sure to you I may seem big enough to rise above it and I am; I've spent a lifetime rising above it but that doesn't mean the remarks don't hurt.
I'm sorry.
Harry, really, I I had no idea that you were so full of crap.
This devaluing of me has been going on for a long time, way before I made that "Punch bowl" Remark.
So don't try to use that as an excuse to justify all the abuse that you've heaped on me.
And if you are a person who seems to know that remarks cut deep, then why the hell do you constantly make them? Is there liquor in that friggin' room? Why does she keep going in there? Can I ask you a question? Got a girlfriend? I'm sorry; too forward.
Never mind.
I get it.
Do you? No.
You? Have a girlfriend? No, I Who's calling me at Sorry.
Hello? What? Jamaal, damn it.
Okay, don't talk to anybody, I don't care who pretends to be your friend, do you hear me? What? Denise, what? He got himself arrested.
He stole a car.
I'm sorry.
I don't know what to do anymore.
I I don't.
Okay.
Just came from the D.
A.
's Office.
The reason they haven't arraigned you yet, Jamaal, is you're not really the one they're after.
They want your boss.
- My boss? - His code name is "Dick Cheney.
" I love that.
They say you might be the only one who knows who he is.
Who is Dick Cheney? He runs a car-theft ring, a pretty sophisticated one, and your brother is evidently his first lieutenant.
- That's a lie.
- Oh, my God.
The offer is, you flip Dick, you walk.
I can't flip.
Man's been good to me, you know what I'm saying? Plus I don't know what he would do if-if Is he dangerous? I don't know.
He could be.
Nobody's turned on him before.
He could be.
Well, you got to make a decision, Jamaal.
How much time do I have on this here? Well, I don't know.
You will get time, especially if they're looking to squeeze you.
Three months, probably, could be six.
Look, I need time - to think about this.
- Well, you don't have long.
If there's no deal, you'll be arraigned tomorrow.
Let me just ask.
If he agrees to do this and this Dick Cheney is dangerous, will the police protect Jamaal? I doubt that.
Then maybe it's best he just takes the three months.
You're talking about an unspeakable type of persecution.
As I said earlier, everybody in this room has to sympathize.
But look, bad criminals exist everywhere.
Consider Mexico the, uh, drug cartels set their victims on fire, sometimes behead them.
The problem is, once we open our doors to every persecuted foreign national, well, you can watch the lines form.
Homosexuals are still murdered in parts of Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Saudi Arabia.
In Iran, you are stoned to death for adultery.
Pakistan, too.
Darfur? Forget it.
Domestically, we are already hemorrhaging as it is we can't take care of Americans.
We can't feed everybody here, can't house them, can't educate or employ them.
This country is an absolute mess.
One in seven people live below the poverty line, and we're gonna open our doors to the rest of the world? The Mexican citizens alone would be enough to bring us to our knees.
It's possible they already have.
And I'm just gonna say this because it needs to be said.
The stuff that goes on in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan how easy would it be for somebody in Al Qaeda to come here under the pretext of being a persecuted citizen of one of those countries, gain asylum here, and become embedded in the United States? Now, I'm sorry, I know that's not you people, but our courts have to be mindful of precedents.
Your Honor, you have to concern yourself not simply with the immediate impact of your ruling, but with the lasting effects as well.
We cannot be the safe haven for all the world's victims anymore.
It would be nice if we could.
We just can't.
I can't take issue with much of what he said.
Something tells me you will, just the same.
Well, I do object to little throwaways to the Mexicans, which were designed to push your anti-immigration button, if you got one.
I don't.
The Supreme Court said they couldn't define obscenity, but they know it when they see it.
Why the hell they were watching porn isn't clear, but I would suppose justice is equally hard to define but I imagine you'd know it when you see it.
Sending these people back to Tanzania, where they'd face an almost certain likelihood of being hunted down and having their limbs hacked off, that can't be any judge's version of justice.
I doubt very much it's yours.
It's one thing as a policy maker to say, as did Mr.
Flynn, we can't just open our doors and throw down the welcome mat for every persecuted foreign national.
It's quite another for you as a judge to take the affirmative step to send innocent people back to a place where they will be butchered.
You'd never be able to tell your grandchildren that that's what you did today.
And there's a reason for that: It would shock their conscience, as it has to shock yours, as it certainly shocks mine.
True, the Tanzanian Government officially condemns the practice, just like the State of Georgia, I suppose, bans fellatio.
But I've been to Georgia, and trust me - Counselor.
- My point is, just because a government is savvy enough to use language of deniability, that doesn't mean these people should be maimed and dismembered.
I've always felt that our country and our courtrooms have a soul, if you will.
That may sound silly, but most legal scholars will say our justice is tempered with compassion and deeply rooted in human rights.
These people My God! Tell you what I'll make a deal with you, Judge.
If it feels right to you to send them back do it.
But if it doesn't don't.
This is what I don't get.
It's a peeve, a gripe I got as a taxpayer.
Know what I'm saying? I mean, if you can crack it, why can't the police? This is my taxpayer gripe.
I mean, I know you're all college-educated and whoop-de, whoop-de, whoo.
I didn't crack it.
I just asked you to follow a car.
Yeah, but you telling me the police couldn't follow a car? What's up with that? Uh, afternoon, everybody.
How we all doing today? Cincinnati's finest would like to know.
Man.
Don't let me stop you from doing your excellent work.
That's a nice blowtorch you got going there, my friend.
I bet you got that at, like, Hammock and Schmuckler.
I just need to have a word with the general manager.
Can you tell me where this per? Well, speak of the devil.
How about that? I checked her employment and I.
R.
S.
records.
- She paid no taxes and - Malcolm, I wouldn't judge her too harshly.
She came from a horrible neighborhood.
You said her father's dead.
People do what they do to survive sometimes.
In the process, they make bad decisions.
- She played me.
- She wasn't totally honest.
That doesn't necessarily mean she played you.
Okay, she played you.
Look, you used to be a drug addict.
People change.
May How long is this going to go on? Jenna, can you come here and sit for a second? Look, you have to understand and I mean this constructively You annoy me.
It begs the question, "Why do I keep you around?" And the answer is because I value you enormously.
I mean, look at this place.
You did this.
I certainly know that.
When people step in and say "Wow," they're talking about your accomplishment, not mine.
And I also realize I'm a dark person.
And left to my own devices, as much as I reject your brightness, your rosy outlook, I know I perhaps desperately need it.
I'm sorry if I made you feel And I can't promise things will be better.
I am who I am.
Which means, you need to know that I value you.
However I make you feel, you need to know it.
Okay.
Okay.
Harry, I like having these little talks.
Oh.
I'm due back in Cleveland.
My mother used to say "Tidy up your house "before inviting guests inside.
" Our house is a mess.
We have 44 million Americans living in poverty.
We are in absolute shambles when it comes to health care, education, housing, employment.
How can we possibly tend to the needs of those abroad while neglecting the primary ones of our citizenry here at home? But Ms.
Korn's appeal to our nation's soul, so firmly rooted in human rights, is not lost on this court.
To use a tired but applicable sports metaphor, this case is a toss-up.
And in cases of legal toss-ups, the Supreme Court has indicated that it would look to the national consensus.
Translation America's conscience du jour.
Mr.
Ngezi, Ms.
Sikonge, Ms.
Bundala, Mr.
Mukasa, the people of the United States do not want you.
Our national mood of tolerance, humanity, compassion has been replaced with fear, anxiety, and, yes, selfishness.
The message sent to our nation's leaders is as clear as it is overwhelming.
We need to look after our own.
We are a good people, Americans.
It is my sincere belief that the majority will pray for you.
I assure you I will pray for you.
I just can't help you.
Adjourned.
I take it she appealed.
She didn't say, but she sounded pretty low.
Let her know if she needs me, I'll be at home.
Okay.
You okay, buddy? Fine.
Can I talk to you? First, I provide for a lot of people, including Jamaal.
- If I go to prison - You can save that.
- If you think I was using you - You were.
Malcolm, if there's one thing I can't act, it's when I'm interested in somebody.
I really like you You and I got nothing to talk about, Denise.
- If I could just exp - No.
I'll be applying to law school one day.
My associations matter.
You and I got nothing to talk about.
Okay.
We are not giving up on this.
Do you hear me? We're not giving up.
There are still other things we can try.
There's still a lot we can do.
Lot we can do.
Okay, we need to go.
Thank you, Ms.
Korn.
Mr.
Jefferson.
For everything.
You can thank us by not giving up.
Okay, Tommy, now is the time for you to make noise.
Done.
This just makes me want to quit.
This is the reason you can never quit.
The biggest misperception about justice is that it's fair.
It's so often not.
The other widely held perception is that it has a conscience.
That one I still cling to.
I have to.